[Abstract] Adoption serves important purposes in contemporary Korean society struggling with severe low fertility and aging since around 2000. It is a way not only for individuals and couples to form a legal parental relationship with a non-biological child, but also for the society to promote care of vulnerable children and to increase child population. This study analyzed the types of children in need social care and the number of children who were adopted in Korea and other countries, and adoption-related laws and policies in Korea, United States of America, Australia, and Japan. As part of this research, a broad-scale survey was conducted of the general public, adoptive parents and adoption practitioners across the country. According to the survey, adoption of a child was often avoided in Korea for reasons of wanting to keep “traditional family culture by blood (60.0%)” and for fear of “negative prejudice against adoption (41.8%).” Among the areas the respondents wanted to see improved were “prejudice against adoption (50.6%)”, “support for adoptive families (27.1%).' The types of adoptive family support that the respondents thought most important were “child-care (30.9%)” and “education expenses (20.0%).”